New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-03-24
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

JuuN FIsKE. Vol l. Aaron-CrandaiL ivy" o'o'
mn XII. 7Gs. d. Appleton q Co.
11e want OF a good biographical dictionary OF
Americans has long been q reproach to our n'era'
ta,re The conf ilati0ns Of Drake and Allen, NTH
erto the nearest approach to such work, nave
merit but neither in SC pc nor in fulncss 40 'heS
commuc fave rably with parallel English. rrcnch
and German publications. while Allen Is moreover
DISTINGUISHED by great lack OF critical JUG
mcut. The editors Of the new dictionary propose
to take their stand in The first rank. along with
such entcrpriscs as the admirable English collec-
tion now In pro ress under the direction OF Mr..
Leslie stephen. They promise six large volumes
90 that they will have ample room for the Intfo'
duction Of extraordinarily fun list OF uties'
and for the treatment of the most hnp'r'"n'
names st considerable length. In point Oh CONF
prchensivcness lh,ir scheme Is aimosl UNIQUE
Ihcv intend to Give two or three times MS many
titles as any rival American wori<-prohaDly rom
fifteen {, twenty thol sand in all-and the cata'
losuc " i'll be djstin uislcd from Others, hfst py
the inclusion of some thousands OF Spanish Ameri-
can pames not found In any similar dictionary
in our LANGUAGE; and secondly. by notices of for
elm statesmen soldiers authors. tray
ellc,s ctc--whosc lives are connected with Ameri-
can affairs II may be surprising at first 10 lind
Burke, Chatham. Caltai e. ok the navigator.
sir Colin Cam bell and King Jerome Bonapartc
in a Dictionary Of American hi siaphy, but tire
system which adrii. them has obvious advan-
tn es. and it does not appear that anybody with
better claims is excluded 10 make room for them
The editors have ad pted for all classes of names
the general rule of taking in everybody with the
smallest professions To celebrity. Toward the Nv
ing IN particular icy eAcrcsc a la' ish hospital
fly which reminds Of the kings servants who
went Tut into the highways and gathered to-
gcllnr Ill as mmny they ioutd. both Dad and
good This llbcrality Is not TO be rcgicWcd'
Anybody who has attracted The notice OF the pub
lie even for q short time in politics. the church.
science. literature, art, arms. adventure, WI Sc
books la found readers, whose name has been
frequent In the NY sIaINis Is a ut " Jcct Tor a
biographical Dictionary. We would not exclude
even those whose brief day Of notoruty Is long
past. They may be the very ones of whom fu-
ture investigators will most painfully seek traces
Vince, er las tOed in the obscure corners of liter
ature and hist DRY VIII know how to appreciate
the con eniencc of all-cmbracing dictionary,
which does not weigh thc real worth of ephcmeial
celebrities, but sets down their actions and leaves
memorable time TO allOt them their right place.
What q DO n it would be if biographical colec-
tions parallel to this had been published one Oh
two hundred years aso in Amer lea, or In the Lon
don of Queen Elizabeth And what a mine OF
minute information this work Will be to the STU
dents and aniquai les of the twenty-iirst century
Not that need wait SO long 10 Try its uses
Every newspaper reader Will find it daily con-
venicnce; for it tells. better than any other work
within our knowledge who are the men and wo
men that talked about
Perhaps 1t is too soon to judge how the import
ant standard bio replies are to be han He'd. |
An excellent catalogue Of contributors Is an
voaI op1c fho fit.1ac uHpir hlni
examples Of complete, compact. intelligent and in
&c, cstpg statement Mr. John fIsLes "JChn
Adams and John Quincy Adams are among
the best contrib tons In the volume EX-sccre-
tary w. +. Chandler writes careful extended
IND sympathetic life of President Arthur Cha lis
Emory Smith does justice to Mr.. Blaine in Sin
gularly lucid and COM rchensivc sketch Of his
career. Booth and other dramatic titles are
Entrusted to the well-trained hand of William
Winter. MIR. Stoddard's Bryant is a model
literary biography. General Bradley T. Johnson
81 es q fine St dy of episode in Ma yland his |
tory under the title "Claib rne.' The hos ra-
phics OF the BaltimorCs howe er, are sill ut and
disappointing, far less space being given to the |
whole family than to Claiborne. The credit I r
the sketch of Thomas ii. Benton is given to
Mr.. Charles Rolln l'Ialnari, but the alticlc Is
little none than rude abrdgmcnt If that in the
fist edition of "Ihc New American Cyclopadia,
the author Of which was b. Gratz Brown. Mr..
Schurz tells what it is necessary To tell about |
Henry Clay certainly without any suP'Iduous
animation. In the long and tho ough life of |
james d .chanan Mr.. Gcor, @ TcInor Curtis makes |
an earnest defence of the Presidents course a. |
the outbreak Of the Lcbelion, ard expresses his |
own political opinions with ,ntire freedom. This |
is ne of the numerous cases IN which the con-
hibuLors appear to have been allowed TO speak
for themselves without editorial supcrv Isl n. |
Another example Of the same license is the Gal
houn Of Congressman j. Randolph Tuck r, who
assures that In bhe memorable debate with
Webster Mr. Calhoun Established on an inlpies
nable foundation the first principle of the multi
fers and seccss nists that pollti;al stem is
o constitutional compact between sovereign
States. IL Is supposed ut the North that tbs doc
trine Of Calloun's was thoroughly rcfuted by
Webster. and finally discredted by the fail OF
the Confedcl acy. There need be no serious ab
lecliOn 10 letting the various contributors express
their indi idual sentiments, pro ided II be unoer-
stood that they are Individually responsible for
them, but If this Ilan is to be adopted it would
be better to have the articles signed.
The nun Mtilcs such ms form the bulk OF
all biogral hi al dictionaries, would have been
improved by more systematic revision, cuttins
out intrusive common laocs and other redundan
cics. and correcting such blind statements as
those In the notice Of 1hurlow Weed Barnes that
he was chairman II the Albany General Com
mttee' and us the author Of the second volume
of the Life of Ihullow Weed" The surprised
reader Will wonder who then wrote tho iirst vol
umc. uncsS he happen 10 know that IT consists
OF Mr.. Weeds autobiography still, the articles
u;on the whole arc good IN. ST Of them arc well
condensed; the facts gre brought down to the
very latest dates, and the photographed refer
enecs seem to have been rrlarc with ess ecial
care An excellent nnd novel feature Is the ad
dition # the proper pronunciation OF names about
which the reader might be in reasonable doubt.
lhe type is 81 sc but clear and handsome, and nu-
lncr.us Illustrations aie inserted including eleven